Arrived in Edom, the Moabitish refugees are within the sphere of Judah's political influence (see Introd. Note). Their first anxiety, therefore, is to secure protection and the right of asylum by sending an embassy to Jerusalem.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Send ye the lamb_ R.V. THE LAMBS. The imper. expresses dramatically the result of the deliberations of the Moabites. The word "lamb" is to be taken collectively; it denotes the tribute in kind which the Moabites had been accustomed to pay to the kings of Israel (2 Kings 3:4), but which they now pro... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse gives no good sense in its present position. Not only does it obscure the connexion between Isaiah 16:1 and Isaiah 16:3, but its language of prediction reveals an affinity with Isaiah 15:9. It has probably been misplaced (so Duhm), and the fact that the Moabites are represented as at "the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take counsel, execute judgment_ Or, APPLY COUNSEL, PERFORM ARBITRATION; i.e. "adopt wise and effectual measures to defend us from our enemies." _make thy shadow as the night …_ Be to us as "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (ch. Isaiah 32:2). _bewray not_ lit. "uncover not.... [ Continue Reading ]
The address of Moab, through its ambassadors, to the court of Judah. Most of the older commentators took a different view of these verses, holding that here the prophet points out to the Moabites the way of national salvation through the practice of righteousness, and exhorts them in particular to s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab_ Rather, LET THE OUTCASTS OF MOAB SOJOURN WITH THEE (as protected guests). This implies a slight change of the vowel points, but has the authority of the chief ancient versions in its favour. The A.V. is a correct translation of the text as pointed, and far p... [ Continue Reading ]
_And in mercy_ If we follow Hitzig's view of Isaiah 16:4 this would be rendered "then in mercy." The phraseology of the verse is Messianic (see esp. ch. Isaiah 9:6) but not exclusively so (cf. Proverbs 8:28). In the lips of the Moabites the language is that of extravagant and (as Isaiah 16:6 appears... [ Continue Reading ]
(Jeremiah 48:29-30.) The prayer is rejected. The writer, speaking in the name of his countrymen, exposes the hollowness of Moab's professions of allegiance and submission, as altogether opposed to the arrogant spirit for which the nation was notorious. On the pride of Moab cf. (besides Jeremiah 48:2... [ Continue Reading ]
(Cf. Jeremiah 48:31-32.) Moab's last hope being thus disappointed, the poet resumes his lament over the doomed people.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the foundations_ R.V. renders rightly RAISIN-CAKES. These cakes of compressed grapes are mentioned less as an article of commerce than as a delicacy used at religious feasts (cf. Hosea 3:1, R.V.). The word never means "foundations." The parallel passage in Jeremiah substitutes the tamer "men." _Kir... [ Continue Reading ]
_the fields_ means here as in Deuteronomy 32:32 "vineyards." _the vine of Sibmah_ Sibmah, in the vicinity of Heshbon, must have been famous for a choice variety of vines, which are here described by a title resembling that used in ch. Isaiah 5:2 for the "choicest vine" of Jehovah's vineyard. _the... [ Continue Reading ]
(Jeremiah 48:32) _with the weeping of Jazer_ i.e. in sympathy with the weeping of J. _I will water thee_ lit. DRENCH THEE. _for the shouting … fallen_ Render with R.V.: FOR UPON THY SUMMER-FRUITS (or rather "fruit-gathering") AND UPON THY HARVEST THE BATTLE SHOUT IS FALLEN. The word for "shout" (_hê... [ Continue Reading ]
The poet gives vent to his sympathy for Moab. These verses are amongst the most beautiful in the poem.... [ Continue Reading ]
(Jeremiah 48:33) _shouting_and _vintage shouting_are entirely different words; the first may be translated by JOYFUL NOISE as in R.V. _the treaders shall tread out no wine_ i.e. there shall be none treading wine. In the last clause "I have stilled" the voice of Jehovah is again heard; some critics,... [ Continue Reading ]
(Jeremiah 48:36) _my bowels shall sound like a harp_ omit "shall" with R.V. The poet's emotion flows forth spontaneously in the strains of the elegy. The _bowels_are the seat of the more intense emotions (Job 30:27), especially of compassion (Jeremiah 4:19; Jeremiah 31:20; Song of Solomon 5:4). _Kir... [ Continue Reading ]
The failure of Moab's religious confidence. The verse reproduces the thought of Isaiah 15:2, at the beginning of the elegy. It reads thus: AND WHEN MOAB APPEARS, WHEN HE WEARIES HIMSELF, UPON THE HIGH PLACE, AND ENTERS HIS SANCTUARY TO PRAY, HE SHALL PREVAIL NOTHING. Ewald however turns the verse in... [ Continue Reading ]
_since that time_ Render AFORETIME. The expression is used both of the recent past (as in 2 Samuel 15:34) and of a remote or even immemorial past (as Proverbs 8:22; Psalms 93:2). The sense here is indeterminate.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Epilogue. See Introductory Note.... [ Continue Reading ]
If ch. Isaiah 15:1 to Isaiah 16:12 describe real events, the verse shews that in the interval Moab had recovered some measure of its former prosperity. _as the years of a hireling_ As the hireling serves for the stipulated time, but not a moment longer, so the judgment on Moab shall not be deferred... [ Continue Reading ]